What Is Accounting?

Course video 2 of 73

During this first week, we’ll learn about the context for financial accounting, including the informational role it plays for both internal and external audiences. We’ll explain accounting standards, which ensure financial information is conveyed clearly and effectively. Finally, we’ll describe the three primary financial statements as part of a recurring accounting process, called the accounting cycle, and then dive into one of those statements: the Balance Sheet (BS).

This course will teach you the tools you'll need to understand the fundamentals of financial accounting. Concise videos, the financial records of a small business, and "your turn" activities guide you through the three most commonly used financial statements: the Balance Sheet, the Income Statement, and the Statement of Cash Flows. Beyond recording transactions, you'll learn how to prepare these financial statements, and read and analyze them to draw basic conclusions about a company's financial health.
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Use journal entries to record transactions
- Prepare and use t-accounts to summarize transactions recorded during an accounting period
- Describe the three most commonly used financial statements and how they fit together
- Prepare these financial statements based on transactions recorded during an accounting period
- Draw basic conclusions about a company's financial health